Underneath it all
by twiliunicorn
Summary: A threeshot I've been working on for a while. More or less just three RallJeen-themed stories taking place between different games. Rated T for certain things in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

I've been wanting to do a fairly simple threeshot for a while.

As a bit of a timeline to the chapters:

first chapter is a prolouge to the first game

second is post Beyond the Portals pre Origins

third is the aftermath of Origins.

* * *

Chapter one:

The average NPP officer knows that if your conduct is fair and you're called to the commander's office, one of three things is happening: you're being bunked up, bunked down, or you're being reassigned a partner. However, in the case of Rallen, with his rather iffy conduct, he knew rather well his odds of being bunked up were low, bunked down high, and reassigned somewhere in the middle.

Rallen took the momment before entering to think about the odds. He laughed at the thought of getting put up a rank, but being put down or... fired would not be good. Then there was being reassigned, which could very easily be a good or bad thing. Whatever happened next would be inevitable as it would take the influence of some devine force to change one of the Commander's decisions.

Finally, he proceeded into the office, moving toward the desk, stopping, saying only five words: "You called for me sir?"

"Yes..." Commander Grant said as he stood up, looking Rallen directly in the eye. "You may have been informed that your former partner has been taken up a rank, therfore you will be reassigned a partner." He paused to clear his throat. "Your ship will not be reissued, so remain there untill your new partner has arrived."

"May know the name of my new partner, sir?" Rallen asked. Surprizes he liked, being left in suspense- not so much.

"That, I will allow you to figure out by yourself tommorow. I will tell you that it was your former partner who suggested this person. You are dismissed."

"Can you at least-"

"You are dissmissed, Rallen."

He could tell from the firmness of his words that there was no use in trying to press the Commander further- at least not without unpleasant conciquences. "Yes sir." He said, walking briskly out of the office.

One of the wall clocks told him that it was five-thirty, the end of his working portion of the day. As he clocked out Rallen realized that the Commander really hadn't given away anything about the identity of his new partner. He only adressed them as "Your new partner" or "this person", never using the words he or she let alone a name.

As he walked away, he noticed another thing: a girl about his age in a cadet uniform. At this distance Rallen couldn't make out the name on her nametag, but she was in fact, rather cute. Her eyes were startlingly bright blue and fringed with thick dark eyelashes, but her hair was completely tucked up under her hat- something several female cadets did when their hair kept getting in the way. He also noted she appeared to be holding some sort of bundle in her arms that looked like clothes.

After looking around to make sure no one was watching (and apparently not noticing Rallen) she tossed of her hat and threw her arms in the air (almost dropping the bundle) and exclaimed "Finally! I got promoted!", with her hat gone her pale pink hair fell from confinement at the top of her head, falling to the middle of her back. It must've somehow been natural since it bore no trace of dye, and her eyebrows were the same color.)

Her happiness was short-lived when she noticed Rallen was standing there, looking at her and chuckling at her outburst. Turning bright red and completely mortified, she atempted to hide her face in her hair, biting her lowwer lip.

Rallen immidiately left, hoping that his leaving wouldn't add to the girl's embarassment. So she'd been promoted... he began to wonder if this girl would end up becoming his new partner. _Of course not, it was probably just a coincidence._ He told himself, but somehow he figured it might just actually be fate.

**(now switching to Jeena's point of view)**

"Now to see if I can find the right one..." Jeena muttered to herself, walking through the spaceport, wondering why every single ship the NPP owned had to look exactly alike. At least each one had its own number- which was all she had to go by.

She remembered the previous day... when that redheaded guy saw her act so immaturely. It embarassed her to think she actually thought no one would be looking. "And what if he ends up being your partner? Wouldn't that be horrific." Jeena laughed slightly but underneath she was thinking _or like something out of those romance mangas the girls at the academy used to read..._ No. This wasn't some devine force's way of introducing her to her true love. It couldn't be. Heck, there was probably no way that it would be the same guy.

Finally she reached the ship with the same number as the one on her access card, and entered it, silently praying it wasn't the wrong one. She walked into the cockpit, noticing the co-pilot seat was empty, but when she turned to look at the one occupying the pilot's seat, her heart skipped a beat.

Of course, it had to be that way, it was just her luck. Why hadn't she realized it, and apparently the guy remembered her too. After an eternity of blushing and stuttering, Jeena finally composed herself. "Alright. I understand that I may have... let my excitement get the best of me when you saw me the other day, but can we please pretend that never happened?"

"Fine by me." He stood up and extended a gloved hand "I'm Rallen. And you are?"

His introduction was more friendly than proffessional, but she gladly shook his hand "My name's Jeena. Its nice to meet you." Once he let go, she took her seat, and several screens flickered to life.

The takeoff was very smooth, defiently proving to her that Rallen had a good deal of tallent as a pilot as Commander Grant had told her- but he'd also warned her that Rallen could get a pretty big head sometimes. "Just a patrol mission through a few sectors is all we were asked to do. So I suppose we have a bit of time to kill." She said, hoping to restart conversation.

"Yeah, you're right about that." He said, setting the ship to auto-pilot and placing his arms behind his head. "No offense," Rallen began "but you look like you haven't quite grown into your uniform yet."

This did in fact- offend her slightly. She wished that she hadn't been such a late-bloomer, barely having hips or anything in the chest-area, and unfortunately, combined with how thin she was, made her look rather akward in her new uniform. Jeena desperately hoped she'd actually grow into it someday. "You should know I'm new I said yesterday that I-"

Rallen cut her off "But yesterday never happened, remember?" he said with a wink, causing Jeena to blush inwardly. Wether this was his way of flirting, she hadn't figured out, but she was determined not to let him win at whatever game he was playing. "Oh forget it," Jeena started, returning her attention to the vast star-studded darkness that lay ahead of them, "lets just get this over and done, 'kay?" and winked back. It must've been a sucessful comeback given she could've sworn she saw him blush in the corner of her eye.

She then knew that in some odd way, she was rather begining to like him. She had quickly found out that underneath Rallen's slight arrogance and immaturity, he had an intense desire to help those in need and a good understanding of right and wrong. Jeena refused to admit that she was falling for him- even to herself.

But some things can't be hidden for long.

* * *

So how was it? I hope the cliffhanger(ish) ending won't get me hated ^^; I will tell you the next chapter won't take too long

reviews would be lovely, especially constructive critisism (I can take it, as long as it isn't really harsh)


	2. Chapter 2

Part two of my threeshot. This takes place after Beyond the Portals, and before Origins. It contains one of the reasons why this Fanfiction is rated T...

* * *

It had been a solid six months since Rallen had supposedly defeated Krux, and even with the Krawl (Momentarily) defeated, he was still left with a million and six questions. Why did Krux have a Prizmod, of all things? Why was half his face covered by Krawl flesh, and the other half that of a man? Most importantly, why had he just disappeared? Calling it a victory didn't necessarily feel right when so many other things were bothering the supposed hero.

Every single mission (If he and Jeena ever actually got one) was simply to patrol. Rallen didn't necessarily like the lack of action, but at least it gave he and Jeena some time to talk about something other than the grim situation their star system was in- time they had been deprived of for a long time.

Today had been a particularly normal day. A single patrol mission, picking nothing up on scans, with the occasional break to check on the Spectrobes in the Incubator. Today however, upon their return, a sudden downpour had started. This caused anyone who was outside to rush through the rain with their arms over their heads in atempt to keep themselves dry. A few lucky ones had seen the bad weather coming, took out their umbrellas, and kept themselves reasonably dry.

Jeena appeared to be troubled by the fact the rain had come seemingly out of nowhere, and it only took Rallen a moment to figure out why. Her parents owned quite a bit of the land around the NPP Headquarters, most of which was bought to make the park and the museum, but her house was still well-within walking distance from work.

The mission had gone on longer than usual, causing them to be delayed an hour or so, and with the short days of Kollin's late Autumn, night was begining to fall. That, along with the rain which still hadn't let up, would not be a good combination for her to walk home in.

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk with you?" Rallen asked her as they stood together at the steps leading up to the front of headquarters, "You'll still get wet and all, but at least you won't be by yourself." He still hadn't completely figured out why, but for some odd reason, the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted nothing to ever happen to her... Rallen couldn't quite describe this feeling and the fact he couldn't was beginning to get on his nerves.

"Im fine, I can go by myself." Jeena replied, before teasingly rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips for effect, "I turned seventeen a month ago, mind you. I can take care of myself."

"Aaaaw," Rallen said, putting on his best steryotypical doting parent voice, "My little partner is growing up..." He said, even adding a few fake sniffles at the end for effect. This succeeded in making her laugh slightly.

"Seriously," She stated again. "I'll be fine on my own. See you tomorrow." She turned her back to him and walked down the steps and out into the rain. Rallen continued to watch her for a moment, and tried to convince himself he wasn't just staring (And as perverted as it made him feel) because he liked the way she swung her hips when she walked.

But something happened that made Rallen feel uneasy. Some person in dark clothing was stumbling (Probably drunkenly) after her. He'd seen this scenario before, some unsuspecting teenage girl attacked by some itchy fingered drunkard. Before any sort of logic could kick in, he began to follow. He hoped it was just some sort of coincidence. But then again, how he'd actually met Jeena should've just been a coincidence too.

(Jeena's POV)

Jeena didn't notice the person following her, the loudness of the rain drowning out his footfalls. She did, though, take note of the fact that the park was totally deserted and the museum was closed, so she had to be the only person here.

"Must've gotten back later than I thought..." She said to herself, continuing to walk.

Her hair had been darkened by the rain, and her clothes were already completely soaked, so she knew she really needed to get home, dry off, get her clothes washed, give her mom her nightly phonecall, type up a mission report that would have to be handed in the next day, and then, finally be able to sleep.

"Gonna be another sleepless night..." Jeena muttered to herself, also discouraged from the fact she had taken a wrong turn and hit a dead end.

She turned around, ready to go back up the elevator, when she saw a dark figure standing in front of it. She blinked a few times, assuming it was just her imagination playing a trick on her, but that changed when she felt herself being slammed back against a tree.

Her arms were pinned against her sides, and she squirmed, hoping to get free of whoever was holding her hostage, but it was no use. "No use in fighting, princess." The man moved his face close enough to make her feel violated, and the sour scent of his breath was making her sick. "No one'e here but you and me..." he continued, trying to land a kiss, but only got a mouthfull of her hair, as she'd turned her head just in time.

"Let... Go... Of... Me..." Jeena hissed as she continued to struggle, but his grasp only continued to get tighter. She deeply regretted not accepting Rallen's offer to come with her, but it was too late. She hated screaming, but in the current situation, she didn't care. She screamed as loud as she could, hoping that someone... somewhere could hear her.

Jeena gasped loudly with revulsion as the man moved his hands upward and began to grope her breasts, the weight of his body keeping her pinned against the tree. She was now at the point she couldn't struggle any longer, and never in her life had she ever felt so desperate and hopeless.

Get away from her. NOW." Jeena heard a familiar voice say. She would've recognized it anywhere. Somehow, Rallen had come to her rescue, and the sheer sense of relief was enough to make her cry. In the dim light she could make out his face, and never before had she seen such rage in his eyes.

The man didn't even have time to react before he was pulled off of her, and met by a fist to the side of his face. "So you've come to protect your girlfriend, you son of a-" Before he could finish, he was kneed in the gut, knocking the wind out of him, and eliminating his ability to speak. One more punch was all that was needed to knock the man out cold.

"Let's get out of here." Rallen didn't give her much of an option, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling Jeena with him (For whatever reason, she didn't mind this). The run back to her house passed in a blur, and throughout the entire time, neither of them said a word. At the front of her rather small house, Jeena routinely unlocked the front door, guesturing for Rallen to come inside.

"So that creep didn't do anything to you, did he?" Rallen asked, concern filling his voice. "I must seem like a stalker or something since I followed you and all...I mean I saw someone following you, and I just sort of did it without thinking." He looked down at the floor and blushed.

"H-he did... touch me, but you came just in time." It took a while before Jeena's voice leveled out, she was still in a bit of shock. "Don't feel bad about it, Rallen, as corny as this sounds, you saved me." She suddenly moved forward and hugged him fiercely. Despite the fact they were both soaking wet- he was still warm, and the soft beating of his heart comforted her as she buried her face in his chest. Tears were coming out of the corner of her now-closed eyes as the shock was finally beginning to register.

Rallen held her tightly in return, gently rubbing her back with one hand, stroking her hair with the other. It felt a little strange to feel someone holding onto him as if life itself depended on it. He was enjoying it a lot more than he thought he would. And somehow, this brought back thoughts of how he felt when he was around her. Could those feelings be... love? He wondered why he hadn't considered it earlier.

Jeena was thinking virtually the same thing. All she'd done was hide it from herself. She wanted to ignore it, but a month after she met him, she was infatuated, and after a year, she was in love with him. But she still couldn't tell him that now. No. Now wasn't the right time.

"So..." Rallen started as Jeena began to let go. "Just make sure to keep your doors locked and your alarm on. And you have my phone number, right? You can call me any time if you need me."

"Okay," Jeena took a step back from him, "Hope the rain has let up a bit."

"And one more thing..."

"What-"

She was cut off by Rallen who had quickly swooped in, brushing aside her bangs, planted a soft kiss on her forehead, causing her to turn red. After doing this, he left.

Only once he left the house did they both simultaneously say:

"I love you."

* * *

Here's the end of the second Chapter. The next one will be the last, and be warned, it will contain major fluff.


	3. Chapter 3

(This fanfiction has not been updated in forever~ Yeah, I know. I've had a bad case of writers block, and school kinda got in the way so please bear with me.)

* * *

Chapter two, Post-Origins two years:

It had been another two years since the conclusion of Rallen and Jeena's big adventure, and both of them had matured quite a bit- physically and mentally since they first recieved that distress signal that lead them to Aldous. Of course, Rallen still didn't act completely his age, but that was just part of his personality, and something Jeena highly doubted he would ever loose.

They were both eighteen now- legally adults. But something had struck both of them as odd: they were both adults, and neither had dated _anyone _since they'd met. Rallen had an unofficial "Spectrobe Master fangirl club" among the younger girls, and Jeena had several admirers. But neither of them paid their fans much mind. No. They were two wrapped up in hiding their true feelings for eachother.

"Seriously?" Jeena sighed, watching her long-time friend and partner scarf down his lunch. The weather had been nice lately, so they decided to have their lunch break at the nearby park. They'd picked up lunch at one of those sandwich chain-resuraunts, and ate sitting a sturdy, and fairly new looking metal picnic table.

"Its not going to run away from you. Honestly. And if you start choking, I'm not going to-" and as if on cue, right after he swallowed, Rallen started coughing. Once they finally subsided, Jeena gave him a teasing "I told you so" look.

"Sorry _Mom_" He said, rolling his eyes. "But hey, we finally got to see _some _action today, and you know how hungry a fight makes me."

"I know that, but will your metabolism allow you to pace yourself for once?" She asked. The momment he oppened his mouth to respond, she shook her head. "Forget it."

Upon finishing, they tossed their trash into the nearest recycling bin, and just walked around, giving they had a good deal of time left before they had to report back.

Strangely, this time their walk together was fairly silent- and it was almost never anywhere near quiet. Jeena just wasn't sure what there was to talk about, and Rallen had something that was weighing heavily on his mind. He had been offered a promotion- to a rank a good deal higher with a nice bonus too. But the only reason he didn't accept it right away- was because he would have to loose his partner. Jeena would be forced to be reassigned, and what if it was to another guy? What if he was better looking and smarter? How would he be able to compete with that?

On the other hand- he still had the memories. How excited she was when she figured out she'd gotten bumped up, the shock that had regestered on her face when she saw who her partner was. And how much she'd changed since then- both personality and physically. She'd crossed the line from pretty to beautiful a long time ago, but maturity added something to it.

Rallen swallowed, glancing over at her, "You wanna go somewhere I can talk to you... alone?"

Jeena looked slightly surprized at his request to go somewhere more private, but accepted the offer as they walked toward an elevator that lead to one of the more isolated parts of the park. Just as they'd hoped, there was no one there. The only audiable sounds were the breeze ruffling the leaves of an enormus tree that had been there for who-knows-how-long, as well as water in the recently-built fountain. It had a diameter of ten feet and took up a good bit of space in the fairly small area, on the fountain's edge was a bronze plate that read "May the future be bright for those you hold dear" - words from the now-demolished tower no thanks to the Krawl.

"Kind of funny that this fountain was meant to be a memorial to us saving Nanairo- yet they decide to put it a place no one goes to." Rallen said, sitting down in front of it.

Jeena sighed and sat down besside him, crossing her legs. "Ah well. Guess our fifteen minutes of fame are up."

"Yeah... Guess we have to accept that we're really just normal people now..." He leaned back, "but that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"I'm listening."

"Y'see, I got offered a promotion- its a little more work and a lot more pay, but..." He looked down, picking at the grass.

Jeena gave him a sideways glance, a slightly worried expression on her face. "But what?"

"I won't be your partner anymore, which I really don't want because I kinda sorta..." Rallen found himself blushing even though he was desperately trying not to in hopes of not giving anything away.

She was blushing slighlty as well. "Rallen, I know that I might nag the heck out of you- but you're still my best friend and I don't want to get in the way of you being happy."

He shook his head, "you don't seem to get it. I'd like to have a better pay in case of an emergency, but I'm at my happiest when I'm with _you_." As if upon reflex, he reached over and placed a gloved hand on her cheek.

Her eyes widened in response to this- causing Rallen to withdraw his hand, but with a warm smile on her face, she put her hand over his to stop him. "I love you, idiot."

"And I love you too." Came his response, leaning in a little closer.

It was a back and forth of compliments and insults as they moved toward eachother.

"Stupid..."

"Know-it-all"

"Annoying"

"Bossy"

"Handsome..."

"Gorgeous..."

The last two words dissolved into a soft "Mmmmh..." as their mouths finally came in contact. Rallen moved his free hand to the small of her back while his other continued to stroke the side of her face. Jeena simply kept her arms wrapped around his neck.

Slowly the kiss became deeper- more passionate as seconds passed by. They softly licked at eachothers lips, several years of waiting finally paying off. They went at this for a little over a minute, panting softly as they moved away.

They held eachother for a momment before Jeena broke the silence, "Rallen?"

"Yeah?"

"I want you to take the promotion."

He was taken aback by her comment. "I thought that after this you'd want us to stay partners?"

"To be honest, it only made me want you to take it more- so you wouldn't have an excuse to make me pay on a date."

"Pfft." He rolled his eyes, "Jeena, I'm a lot of things, but I'm not _that _cheap."

"Alright, the truth is- I don't want to be hindering your success." She pressed the side of her head against his chest. "I mean, it's not like we'll never be able to see eachother."

Rallen glanced down, the watch feature on the prizmod informing him that the time was 1:30. "Great... we're already fifteen minutes late."

Upon hearing this- Jeena let him go and stood up "I guess we lost track of time." she said, smiling nervously.

He stood up as well, gently gripping her hand. "But if we're going to get yelled at for it, we might as well get yelled at together."

"Yeah..." She muttered. "together."


End file.
